Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Affordable Housing

As Daily Mule readers and other hard-working families know, low house prices are a Very Bad Thing; certainly worse than high food prices (profitable comestibility), high energy prices (British Petroleum a going concern) or low wages (keeping the rabble in line). Falling house prices are a sign of approaching recession, stagflation, sure and certain doom, and the possible nonexistence of Santa Claus. Accordingly, Boris Johnson, or at least the minion he has delegated to take the rap for such matters, has done his bit to ensure that any affordable housing in the Conservative borough of Hammersmith and Fulham remains affordable only for the right sort of people. Those who can afford to buy their own homes may do so at "intermediate" prices; the custom of those who can only afford to rent is not required. Hammersmith and Fulham's "cabinet member for strategy" - apparently mere borough councillors are no longer good enough - denied "any suggestion that a political deal has been done. It just wasn't like that at all", which so convinced the Guardian's Dave Hill that he forgot the difference between a denial and a refutation.